In Korea, ordinary people, with no prior experience in cryptocurrencies, have been lured into the cryptocurrency markets in recent weeks by the soaring prices of Bitcoin and its competitors.

Nowhere has the public frenzy been more feverish than in South Korea. It was on South Korean exchanges that the price of Bitcoin first hit $10,000 last Monday, hours before traders in the United States reached the same level of exuberance.

Even cryptocurrency enthusiasts in South Korea are concerned about the sudden rush into Bitcoin and Ether.

They say investors are often getting in with little grasp of how cryptocurrencies work, like the decentralized network where all the transaction records are kept, or why they may be valuable over the long term.

Korean investors say they know they might lose money, but they are holding out hope.